STAND. COM. REP. NO.  620-16

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2016

RE:   H.B. No. 2085

      H.D. 1

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 2085 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to reduce and ultimately eliminate Hawaii's dependence on fossil fuels for electrical generation and ground transportation by creating goals and targets in the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program and State Planning Act, including establishing an incremental timeline for the reduction of fossil fuels in electrical generation and ground transportation in the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program.

The Blue Planet Foundation, Sierra Club of Hawaii, and a concerned individual supported this measure.  The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and Hawaii Petroleum Marketers Association opposed the measure.  The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Hawaii Transportation Association; and Hawaii Automobile Dealers' Association submitted comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Requiring the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative Program to transition the State to a clean energy economy, including the reduction and ultimate elimination of Hawaii's dependence on imported fossil fuels for electrical generation and ground transportation by 2045;

     (2)  Requiring the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism to submit in its annual report to the Legislature on the status and progress of new and existing clean energy initiatives, recommendations to achieve the reduction and ultimate elimination of dependence on fossil fuels, including timelines and benchmarks; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2085, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2085, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,

____________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair